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Best live version of Celebration Day?


John M

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I used to prefer the 73 (New York, Fort Worth) versions but recently went back to 1971 and was reminded of these two incredible versions.  They are both amazing.  So glad to hear Jones up in the mix.   And both have very extended jams at the end.

So my two choices at the moment are

 

Osaka 9-29-71

Toronto 9-4-71

What are some other great versions I should check out?

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5 hours ago, John M said:

I used to prefer the 73 (New York, Fort Worth) versions but recently went back to 1971 and was reminded of these two incredible versions.  They are both amazing.  So glad to hear Jones up in the mix.   And both have very extended jams at the end.

So my two choices at the moment are

 

Osaka 9-29-71

Toronto 9-4-71

What are some other great versions I should check out?

Hard to vote against '73 versions, but from '71, Hampton is pretty kick-ass (as is that entire show).

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Guy asks for great 1971 versions and people respond with 1973 NYC. Wonderful.

John M, all the 1971 versions are pretty spectacular. The combination of Jimmy using the 12-string and the explosive rhythm cooked up by Jones and Bonham make the 1971 Celebration Days unique to all others. It sounds like Bonham is literally beating his kit into the ground...his right foot is hammering his kick drum sooo damn hard. I also love the outro jam where Jimmy gets into a mesmerizing groove on that 12-string. Of course, Plant's voice is totally on point in 1971.

The only problem is that, while performance-wise 1971 Celebration Days are awesome, by-and-large tapers seemed to be unlucky capturing a nice clean version. For every 9.4 Toronto or 9.29 Osaka that sounds killer, there is a nightmare like 8.31 Orlando, where right at the moment during Jimmy's riffing in the intro, the tape switches from the clear soundboard to a crappy audience tape as the song begins.

AAAAAARRRRHGGGGHHHH!!! I almost punched my stereo the first time I listened to 8.31.71, I was so mad.

The two LA Forum dates, 8.20 and 8.21, are crappy audience tapes too. Nowhere near the quality of 9.4.70 Blueberry Hill or Mike Millard's tapes.

Of course the other sad thing about the 1971 Celebration Day is that it left the setlist way too soon. They should have kept it in the set forever...or at least thru the 1972 U.S. and Japanese tours and on to 1973.

Anyway, try 1971 Hampton Virginia and the 9.23.71 and 9.24.71 Tokyo Celebration Days for some kickass versions with decent audio quality.

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Blue-Eyed Merle,

Thank you for the suggestions.  They are all fabulous.  I listened to two Hampton versions, one with the totally overloaded bass which is FANTASTIC.  The bass is also very prominent in the 9-23-71 Tokyo.  All three are kickass as you said.  Eye Thank Yew!  It really is a different song in 1971.  Very different guitar stylings, pointing toward the song TSRTS.  Another great treat is the opening for Osaka and Tokyo 9-24 with the very clean and staccato chords to start.

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^^^The best beginning ever is 8.31 Otlando where Jimmy starts some slinky riffing before the song. Jimmy is incredibly amped during this show for he does this constantly through the night...as if he cannot wait to get going and play the song.

 

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57 minutes ago, Sticks of Fire said:

9/28/71 Osaka is so high energy it's unreal.   I hope it's on the new soon to be released Sounboard.  

Do we know for sure that a full soundboard for this show is going to be released? They've only released BD so far, unless I'm mistaken? 

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Most likely it will not be a complete SB tape, but there should be more. By guesstimate...I would wager  somewhere between  55, 110 minutes (or more...) depending on how many tape reels they had at hand for feeding the ol' Revox deck.

from 1971 Toronto clocks in at roughly 50 minutes ( only one 1/4" 7,5 ips reel was unearthed in 1990)  Both Orlando and Hampton were Blessed with two reels each...fingers crossed

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15 hours ago, duckman said:

Most likely it will not be a complete SB tape, but there should be more. By guesstimate...I would wager  somewhere between  55, 110 minutes (or more...) depending on how many tape reels they had at hand for feeding the ol' Revox deck.

from 1971 Toronto clocks in at roughly 50 minutes ( only one 1/4" 7,5 ips reel was unearthed in 1990)  Both Orlando and Hampton were Blessed with two reels each...fingers crossed

Ok thanks buddy. 

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On 5 September 2016 at 8:56 AM, The Only Way To Fly said:

That intro is incredible! I gotta get a copy of Orlando!

Wait till you hear 'Thankyou' at Orlando. Absolutely blistering. One of the best guitar solos I've ever heard

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  • 3 weeks later...
21 hours ago, John M said:

Check out the bass on this version of Toronto 1971.  And dig the spot around 3:47 when it is just bass and drums for a few seconds.  And after the song one of the great Plantations.

 

 

 

Surely that can't be topped. Jeeeez that bass. that rhythm. Everything actually.

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